DUNBAR, William Edward
(Service number 88118)
| First Rank | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 23 October 1888 | Place of Birth | Woodstock |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 29 October 1917 | Age | 29 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Rangitata Gorge | ||
| Occupation | Musterer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mr Peter DUNBAR (father), Waiau, North Canterbury | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
| Date | |||
| Transport | |||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 19 November 1975 | Age | 87 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waiau Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William Edward Dunbar was born on 23 October 1888 at Woodstock, North Canterbury, the youngest son of Peter and Annie (née Rankin) Dunbar. Peter and Annie married in 1868 in New Zealand and had four daughters and three sons. They lived at Papakaio, North Otago, until mid-1878, when their two eldest children (Janet known as Jessie) and Alexander John) were admitted to Pukeuri School north of Oamaru. Mary Ann joined them at Pukeuri School in 1881 and Catherine Ellen in 1884, while Alexander was re-admitted in 1883 after illness, these three leaving the district at the end of 1885. Peter, a sheep farmer, had moved to Lake Heron, near Mount Somers, in Mid-Canterbury. By 1908 the family had moved to Waiau where William was a shepherd with his family. Thereafter he seems to have moved about.
William Edward Dunbar, shepherd, “Mesopotamia”, Mount Somers, was called up at the beginning of October 1917. He was a musterer in the Rangitata Gorge when he enlisted in October 1917. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr Peter Dunbar, Waiau, North Canterbury. When the Second South Canterbury Military Board sat at Ashburton on 30 October 1917, the appeal of William Edward Dunbar was adjourned. The Second South Canterbury Military Board sat again on 22 August 1918. In the case of William E. Dunbar, shepherd, Mount Somers, the Efficiency Board reported favourably, but as appellant was willing to serve he was given till September 9, when he was ordered to go into camp. He left as part of the draft for the Forty-Sixth Reinforcements.
After a few more years at Mesopotamia, William rejoined his family at Waiau, still a shepherd. He retired to Christchurch where he died on 19 November 1975, aged 87 years. After a service at the Waiau Presbyterian Church, he was buried at the Waiau Cemetery. He was survived by his brother Peter Robert Dunbar, nieces and nephews.
Sources
Waiau Cemetery headstone image (Find a Grave) [17 December 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [17 December 2025]; Timaru Herald, 2 October 1917, Star, 30 October 1917, 22 August 1918, Lyttelton Times, 23 August 1918, Press, 20 & 21 November 1975 (Papers Past) [18 December 2025]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [18 December 2025]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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